different

comparative more different · superlative most different

1. Not the same; exhibiting a difference.

   — Is your grandpa any better? — No different. Still ill.

   4 more examples

   At Elizabeth-Jane mentioning how greatly Lucetta had been jeopardized, he exhibited an agitation different in kind no less than in intensity from any she had seen in him before.

   1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge

   One interesting feature was remarked by Dr. Peters, viz.: that the instrument used for the longitudes of the original catalogue was graduated differently to that used for the latitudes.

   1915, Edward Knobel, Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars – A Revision of the Almagest, page 14 (showing that "to" was used by an Englishman in 1915)

   Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.

   1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 6

   Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

   2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34

   Antonyms: undifferent, akin, alike, comparable, conformable, corresponding, homologous, identical

2. Various, assorted, diverse.

   My daughter told me about all the different animals she saw at the zoo.

   1 more example

   In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.

   2006, Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 19

   Synonyms: assorted, confused, conglomerate, desultory, deviating, disaccordant, discordant, discrepant · Antonyms: undifferent, homogeneous

3. Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.

   Several different scientists all reached this conclusion at about the same time.

   1 more example

   Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.

   2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2013, page 200

   Synonyms: detached, discrete, distinct, disparate, loose, separate, sundry, unattached · Antonyms: undifferent, coordinate, equal, even, identical, level, on a par

4. Unlike most others; unusual.

   What do you think of my new hairdo? - Well, it's different.

   Synonyms: aberrant, abnormal, alien, anomalous, as queer as Dick's hatband, bizarre, booky, curious · Antonyms: undifferent, average, medial, basic, bog-standard, common, commonplace, common-and-garden

plural differents

1. mathematicsThe different ideal.

comparative more different · superlative most different

1. Differently.

   Cars "act different" on a long trip.

   1954 December 16, The Argus, Melbourne, page 29, column 6

   3 more examples

   [I]f they view it in the same light as I do, they will act different to their previous intentions.

   1843 October 28, The Port Phillip Gazette, Victoria, page 4, column 1

   Mr Graves objected to any postponement, and as to the verdict being against the weight of evidence, he was quite sure his Honor would not act different from the Judges, who were slow to interfere with the verdict of a jury.

   1861 May 13, The Hobart Town Advertiser, page 1, column 4

   "Although we all speak different and use different grammar, we have to be more tolerant of each other," he told ABC Brisbane's Katrina Davidson.

   2016 June 15, ABC Premium News, Sydney